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Hulk
: "I know you're angry." : ''"Oh, no, we're way past that. I could choke the life out of you and never change a shade." :: ―Wanda Maximoff and Bruce Banner (''Avengers: Age of Ultron'')'' ''Doctor''' Robert Bruce Banner''' is a renowned scientist in the fields of Biochemistry, Nuclear Physics, and gamma radiation. His father, David Banner, was a geneticist who in the late 1960's attempted to create a superior version of the Super Soldier Serum, which originated in Captain America decades before in World War II. The insane David Banner's experiments on himself resulted in his son Bruce developing a buried genetic mutation which held unlocked within it an enhanced, but highly unstable version of the Super Soldier Serum. Orphaned after a traumatic incident at the age of 4, Bruce would eventually be adopted and live with the Krenzler family. Once an adult, Bruce Banner would eventually work in the exact same field that his father had. Having a natural gift in genetics, Bruce would be invited onto a top-secret government-backed project in the early 2000's which, unbeknownst to him, once again sought to recreate the effects of Abraham Erskine's Super Soldier Serum, built upon the ashes of his father's work in the 60's. When an early-phase nanomed experiment involving gamma radiation goes awry, the mild-mannered scientist found his already-mutated genome unleashed, evolving into something much more powerful. When angered or provoked, he would transform into the rage-fueled and nearly mindless green-skinned monster known as the Hulk. Ever since that fateful accident, Banner's primary concern has been his quest to cure his condition, or to find a way to live with his "curse" if there is indeed no cure. Fearful of the damage that the Hulk could inflict, Banner eventually chose to live a discreet life in remote parts of the world, working to cure the sick and help the poor while trying to elude those who would take advantage of his ability to change into the enormous green menace. When a mounting threat called for Banner's specialized scientific expertise in gamma radiation, S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury recruited him, knowing full well that the incredible strength of Banner's alter ego would be an additional asset to the Avengers. After the Avengers split up, he became good friends with Tony Stark and was also given the freedom to live his life without being hunted down or surveyed, so long as the destructive power of the Hulk is kept in check. After the HYDRA Uprising, the Avengers regrouped to battle the growing threat of HYDRA. To make sure that the Earth could be protected without the constant need of the Avengers' protection, Banner assisted Stark in creating Ultron, a hyper-advanced prototype artificial intelligence. The AI quickly turned against them, trying to bring about the next step in evolution for humanity, which in it's belief included a world cleansed of most of the population considered "unworthy", and the extinction of the Avengers and other super-humans. Hulk helped in the fight against Ultron and decided to go off the grid after the team successfully defeated him. Biography Early life Childhood Robert Bruce Banner was born on Thursday, December 18, 1969. As the son of a real-life mad scientist, Bruce had a less-than-idyllic childhood. Bruce's father, David Banner, was a genetics researcher who used the original Super Soldier Serum as a base to perform dangerous and unethical experiments, eventually creating a serum of his own with the goal of trying to improve human DNA. Despite orders from his superiors that forbade any trials involving human subjects, David decided to test his new serum on himself. However, all of the effects appeared to be temporary and the experiment was seemingly a failure. murder.]] Once David's wife Edith gave birth to their son, the elder Banner realized his mutated DNA had been passed on and attempted to find a cure for his son's condition. When the government, represented by Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross, shuts down his research after learning of his dangerous experiment, David, in a fit of rage, causes a massive meltdown of the facilities' gamma reactor, and then sets off an experimental Gamma Bomb. Upon heading home in order to, in his own words, "destroy the monster that he had created", the crazed David accidentally kills his wife. After the incident, David Banner is institutionalized in an asylum and 4-year-old Bruce is sent into foster care and adopted, taking on the last name Krenzler, and believing both his biological parents to be deceased. Up until his mid 30's, he knew almost nothing about either of them or the incident that he experienced. Young Bruce is a withdrawn and closed child, almost never outwardly expressing emotion, with patches of pale green skin appearing on the rare occasions when he does feel anything. David Banner's experiments on himself were mostly fruitless, but encoded within Bruce's DNA was an inactive but highly potent form of David's Super Soldier Serum. This unique version of the serum actually held the key to the regenerative power that David Banner hoped to create, but Bruce unknowingly suppressed his capabilities as a young child, likely due to the trauma he endured. Throughout his life, the repressed memories of his parents, the gamma explosion and the murder of his mother often manifest themselves as intense nightmares that leave Bruce shaken and disturbed but unable to conjure the memories. Bruce Banner endures a life without a past, but he is often tormented by the dreams he can't remember. Encouraged by his foster mother, Mrs. Krenzler, he decides to pursue a career as a geneticist, as it was his father's profession. As he grew up, he started going by his middle name, as his mother and father did. Unaware that there is a monster inside him, Bruce continually struggled with fits of anxiety, paranoia, stress, depression, embarrassment and rage throughout his teenage years. College and early career Years later Bruce is a brilliant student determined to begin a career in genetics. He is supported by his girlfriend and equally brilliant fellow researcher-in-training, Betty Ross. Bruce met Betty Ross while in college, where they fell in love. Once, at Harvard University, the couple had participated in an experiment involving intense hallucinogens. They soon graduated and moved on to Willowdale, Virginia, first working together at Culver University as instructors, where Bruce specialized in Nuclear Physics, Biochemistry, and was a member of the Bio-science Department. During that time, he was involved in groundbreaking work on anti-electron collisions and gamma radiation, becoming one of the foremost geniuses of his generation. Banner later met Erik Selvig, another one of the university's instructors. Career at Berkeley Moving back to the West Coast at Berkeley. ]] Things would change for the both of them after Betty unexpectedly dumps Bruce, saying she has tired of his cordoned off emotional terrain and resigns herself to remaining an interested onlooker to his quiet life. However, after some bonding post-break up, the two decide to remain friends, citing their frequent interaction as colleagues. In 2002, both Bruce and Betty leave Culver University for better opportunities, finding themselves in a high-paying position as researchers working at the bionuclear research facility of the University of California, Berkeley. As an experienced genetic scientist, Bruce studied the effects of gamma radiation on damaged tissue during his work at Berkeley. Knowing of his father's work in the past, Thunderbolt Ross, now an Army General and the estranged father of Betty Ross, would approach Bruce (at that time still going by his adopted name, Krenzler) with a proposition to develop the basic science for what would eventually contribute to the second iteration of the Bio-Tech Force Enhancement Project, a top-secret effort started by Ross as a way to try and recreate Erskine's original Super Soldier Serum using left over samples from some of Ross's previous experiments. General Thunderbolt Ross intentionally withholds the true intent of the project from Bruce, who is being led to believe that all of his research is working towards improving human radiation resistance. Ross is heavily concerned for his daughter's safety around Bruce, and, upon learning of the two's progress towards synthesizing a successful serum, begins to use his vast connections to wrestle more control from his superiors. Betty, however, is angered at General Ross's deception of Bruce and stops speaking to him. She decides to propose their results to the college's review board to determine if there are other contractors interested in a piece of the project, hoping to distance it and herself from her father. that was used in the experiments.]] Bruce and Betty use the healing capabilities of small nano-machines called "nanomeds", to act as a repairing agent which keeps the subject alive during the dangerous procedure. Once activated by a device called a Gammasphere, the nanomeds work to regenerate living tissue while the gamma acts as a catalyst to activate the serum. During the first few years, the experiments go better than planned, the success being credited to the use of gamma radiation, which replaced the lower-energy vita radiation from Project Rebirth. However, with the limited supply of Super Soldier Serum dwindling with each experiment, the nanobots soon begin to result in out-of-control cellular growth, making them invariably fatal to the amphibian test subjects. After several complications upstairs lead to massive loss of profits in overseas markets, Ross is asked to leave the program, which he begrudgingly does. tries to acquire the Bio-Tech project. ]] Now a full government sponsored project with no overseer, Bruce and Betty are given more freedom and less supervision. However, the military-industrial company Atheon, represented by the unscrupulous Major Glenn Talbot, becomes interested in the research to build self-healing soldiers of their own. General Ross would maintain an eye on the project through Talbot, who is still working for him and keeping him up to date on their results. Gamma accident By 2003, the Bio-Tech Force Enhancement Project had been progressing for almost 3 years. The Iraq War was underway and the project, as well as almost all other programs within Infantry Weapons Development began to lose most of it's funding. As a consequence, the labs at Berkeley began to proceed to the later phases of testing when earlier tests were not yet complete. In addition, Talbot had begun to crack down hard on the team and the old facility was not completely safe and in need of serious repairs. However, with the scientists unable to secure further support, and eager to impress the review board to keep the project alive, the experiments continued. . ]] One day, as Bruce, Betty and their colleague, Harper, continue to make progress in their experiments, they experience a freak lab accident during a routine power-up when there is an overload of the nanobots, with Harper stuck in the lab testing room. Bruce saves Harper and takes the brunt of the gamma radiation himself. After the gamma hits him, Bruce blacks out and Betty contacts the authorities, halting the project for the time being. Later, Bruce wakes up in a hospital bed recovering from the accident. Harper leaves the project indefinitely, returning to his home state of Utah. Bruce tells Betty that he's never felt better since the accident, which she can't fathom due to the fact that the nanomeds have killed everything else they've touched. Bruce speculates that this is a sign that the Super Soldier Serum has finally been successfully recreated. In reality, the radiation had activated Bruce's already-mutated DNA, compounding the strength and effects of the altered Super Soldier Serum within him since his birth. The nanomeds kept him alive, just as they had in their earliest experiments on the frogs, working together with his body to help him absorb the huge amount of gamma radiation he had endured. Birth of the Hulk First transformation David Banner reappears after almost 30 years, having escaped from the mental asylum in which he was incarcerated by forging his own release papers. He starts infiltrating his son's life by tracking him down, and then murdering the janitor working at the lab building, Benny, and replacing him. The night of the accident, David confronts Bruce, revealing their relationship and his true name, Bruce Banner. He hints at his knowledge of his son's condition, but Bruce does not believe him for the time being. Using some of Bruce's DNA which he managed to retrieve from the hospital, he begins experimentation on animals, while also continuing to watch his son closely. Soon after, Bruce is released from the hospital and begins working at Berkeley again. The building rage within him stems from all of the stresses built up around him (repressed memories, his father, Betty, General Ross, Talbot and the accident). One night, an upsetting phone call from Betty sends him over the edge, which activates his gamma-irradiated DNA, and triggers Bruce's first transformation into the green monster he would eventually come to call the''' Hulk'. Bruce's inner beast is unleashed, and in an instant he suddenly becomes one of the most powerful beings on the face of the earth. Bruce (as the Hulk) tears through the building and destroys his lab, hurling the Gammasphere through a wall. His father sees him in his transformed state, and is in both awe and horror of what he has created, deepening his obsession. Bruce leaps out of a hole through the roof and disappears into the night. Aftermath After the destruction at the lab, Bruce is found unconscious at his home by Betty. Bruce does remember his transformation, but passes it off as a dream. The transformation itself he describes as a sensation similar to birth. He finds himself ravenously hungry and exhausted, but does not connect his memories of the transformation with David, whom he still does not recognize. The entire incident the previous night is covered up as a gamma exposure which contaminated the lab and required a complete evacuation of the campus. Ross arrives and is suspicious of Bruce's story. He places him under house arrest and then finally retakes control over Betty and Bruce's lab, halting the program for now. Betty is forbidden to communicate with Bruce for the next few days. House arrest Interrogated by Ross : ''"Some more repressed memories." : "Just tell me." "I'm sorry son. You're an even more screwed-up mess than I thought you'd be." :: ―General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross and Bruce Krenzler '' At Bruce's house, General Ross interrogates him and tells him of his relations with his father. However, every time he is questioned about his memories of his father or the events of his past, Bruce tells the General that he does not remember any of it. He claims that every single time his foster parents told him about his father they said he was dead. In response, the General claims that there is no way he could fathom Bruce ever forgetting "a thing like that", referring to his father's murder of his mother, but Bruce still does not understand. Ross tells Bruce that the former Bio-Tech lab has been declared a top-secret military site by his superiors, and that he has once again been given full clearance regarding the project. He also adds that he forbids Bruce from ever seeing Betty ever again, or he will lock him up for the rest of his natural life, just like his father. Melee at Betty Ross' house : ''"Talbot........you're making me angry..." : "Oh, am I?" :: ―Bruce Krenzler to Major Glenn Talbot That night, David Banner phones Bruce and tells him he has arranged for a test to see if he has recreated the conditions of Bruce's transformation. He unleashed three gamma-mutated dogs to Betty's house. Enraged, he attempts to leave but Talbot attacks Bruce. As he is tackled on the ground, Bruce warns Talbot to leave for his own safety, saying that "you're making me angry". Soon, Bruce grabs Talbot's hand and nearly breaks them as he slowly turns green, shocking Talbot. As Bruce's strength forces Talbot onto the couch, Bruce transforms again, shocking Talbot. Bruce throws Talbot out of the house and his henchmen open fire, furthering angering Bruce and causing him to increase his size from 8 feet tall to about 13 feet. He then throws Talbot at his henchmen, knocking them out and injuring Talbot's neck. After that, he uses his powerful legs to leap up into the air and begins to make his way towards Betty's house atop a redwood tree.]] Betty hears a tremendous crash outside, and goes to investigate. She then encounters a transformed Bruce, but this time he does not release his rage but is calm in her presence. He places her in her car when the three mutant dogs comes to them and then begins to fight. Bruce approaches the dogs and begins to scuffle, but finds himself outgunned and outnumbered. He then picks up a large log and begins to beat down two of the dogs, while the third goes after Betty in the car. Bruce saves her from the gamma dog, and then jumps up into the redwood trees as they follow. After a long and bloody fight, two of the dogs explode into bursts of gamma and flesh, as their mutation was unstable. He manages to to kill the third and final dog, which then also explodes. Bruce returns back to normal in front of a pool, and then collapses in Betty's arms. It is here that Bruce first refers to his alter-ego as "that...Hulk". He and others would usually refer to it as this from here on out. Captured The next morning, Bruce is tranquilized and taken to an enormous underground base in the Nevada desert, near where his old house was when he was a child. Betty convinces her father to allow her to attempt to help Bruce control his transformations, but Ross remains extremely skeptical, claiming that the Bio-Tech Force Enhancement Project's results were never intended to be reversed, and believing Bruce is "damned" to follow in his father's footsteps. mutates himself even further. ]] Testing continues on Bruce, while, unbeknownst to him, David Banner breaks into the quarantined lab and subjects himself to the nanomeds and the gamma sphere, mutating the serum that was present within his cells which he injected himself with during his original experiments and gaining the ability to meld with and absorb the properties of anything he can touch. He uses his new power to murder a security guard who was about to arrest him and then continues his work. Talbot's plan Locked within the underground facility for the foreseeable future, Bruce begins to try to become accustomed to captivity, and after several weeks, he begins to feel that he can control his own rage and perhaps prevent further transformations that way. The only reason that the Armed Forces keep Bruce alive is because of the implications for mass profits that could occur if his power could be harnessed and weaponized. As time progresses, however, it gets harder and harder for Bruce to deny his captors a transformation. Talbot, still healing from his injuries sustained during Bruce's rescue of Betty, attempts to force one by way of a savage beating and extraction in a bathroom. After Bruce's will proves too strong for Talbot to break, he decides to try and bring about an unconscious transformation. Escape from the base Pursuit in the desert Returning home Final meeting with David Banner Final conversation between father and son Battle at Pear Lake Disappearance Hiding in Canada Category:Hulk characters Category:The Incredible Hulk characters Category:The Avengers characters Category:Iron Man 3 characters Category:Avengers: Age of Ultron characters Category:Thor: Ragnarok characters Category:Comics characters Category:Video games characters Category:Humans Category:Mutates Category:Males Category:Characters with black hair Category:Characters with brown eyes Category:Characters with green eyes Category:Americans Category:Scientists Category:Professors Category:Avengers team members Category:Super Soldier Serum users Category:Brainwashed characters Category:Multilingual characters Category:Characters with a high body count Category:Heroes Category:Super-humans